1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear luggage compartment structure for a hatchback or lift back vehicle that is provided with a rack that is positioned at a specified height from a rear luggage compartment floor and is accessible from a passenger compartment so that passengers can put luggage on the rack and lift luggage aside from the rack.
2. Description of Related Art
A rear luggage compartment structure of this kind is known from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent publication No. 2001-328488. This rear luggage compartment structure includes a rear package tray that is disposed at a specified height from a rear luggage compartment floor and divided into tow parts, namely a front package tray and a rear package tray. The front package tray is capable of being supported on tops of right and rear wheel housings at an intermediate height between the rear package tray and the rear luggage compartment floor for convenience of the rear luggage compartment of the hatchback vehicle.
The prior art rear luggage compartment structure discloses or suggests no technical idea of making utilization of a trunk board disposed on and extending between longitudinally opposite ends of the rear luggage compartment floor for a parcel rack accessible from a passenger compartment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a luggage compartment structure for a hatchback vehicle that incorporates a rack behind a rear seat that is accessible from a passenger compartment for storage of luggage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a rear luggage compartment structure in which either one of first and second or front and rear trunk boards primarily laid on between front and rear ends of a rear luggage compartment floor is supported as a rack horizontally between a rear seat and another of the first and second or front and rear trunk boards supported upright to form a luggage storage space accessible from a passenger compartment over the rear trunk board and a secret storage space (secret box) under the rear trunk board in the rear luggage compartment.
The foregoing objects of the present invention are accomplished by a rear luggage compartment structure for a hatchback vehicle with a reargate which provides a rear luggage compartment with a luggage rack that is disposed at a specified height from a rear luggage compartment floor behind a rear seat and accessible from a passenger compartment. The rear luggage compartment structure comprises a first trunk board laid on a first part of the rear luggage compartment floor, a second trunk board laid on a second part continuing from the first part of the rear luggage compartment floor and support means for supporting the first trunk board upright on the rear luggage compartment floor and the second trunk board horizontally below a top of the rear seat so as thereby to put the second trunk board available as a luggage rack accessible from a passenger compartment.
According to the rear luggage compartment, it is quite easy to create comparatively small spaces behind the rear seat at vertically opposite sides of the second trunk board in the rear luggage compartment by supporting the first trunk board upright and the second trunk board horizontally. The space over the second trunk board serves as a small luggage storage compartment accessible from the passenger compartment and the space under the second trunk board serves as a secret box. Therefore, the rear luggage compartment structure enhances the convenience of rear luggage compartment.
The rear luggage compartment structure may further comprise a front package tray for covering the luggage storage space over the second trunk board supported horizontally such that the front package tray is capable of turning toward the reargate to uncover the space over the second trunk board. The front package try serves to prevent luggage in the luggage storage space from being burglarized.
The rear luggage compartment structure may further comprise a rear package tray connected to the front package tray through a transverse joint as one integral piece to cover a luggage space left behind the first trunk board supported upright in the rear luggage compartment. The rear package tray is supported to the reargate pivotally mounted to a rear header of the hatchback vehicle, directly or otherwise through a wire or a rod, so as to uncover the luggage space behind the first trunk board when the tailback is open. Since the rear package tray is moved up and down in conjunction with up and down movement of the reargate, the rear package tray improves its operationality for loading and unloading luggage while keeping its ordinary performance.
It is preferred for the front package tray to be foldable toward the reargate along a transverse joint in at least two folds. Since the front package tray is foldable in at least two folds, it is quite easy for a passenger in the passenger compartment to cover and uncover the small luggage storage compartment for putting luggage into the small luggage storage compartment and lifting luggage out of the small luggage storage compartment.
The rear luggage compartment structure may include a floor tray extending over the first and second parts of the rear luggage compartment floor. In this instance, the first and second trunk boards are laid on the first and second parts of the rear luggage compartment floor, respectively, through the floor tray. Further, it is preferred for the support means to comprise a set-in groove formed in a transverse direction in the floor tray so as to retain the first trunk board upright. This makes the support means simple in structure and reliable in operation.
It is preferred to install a rear seat unit comprising a single bench cushion and two separate seatbacks foldable toward the bench cushion independently. It is also preferred that the driver""s side rear seatback and the passenger side rear seatback have a transverse proportion of four to six. The rear seat unit can put the space under the second trunk board supported horizontally accessible from the passenger compartment when either or both of the seatbacks are folded down. When folding down one of the seatbacks that is unoccupied by a passenger, the secret box can be easily accessed by a passenger occupying the other seatback.